Kinlochleven to Fort William

This should have been a lovely day, and it had its moments, but the foul weather which had merely heightened yesterday's adventure seemed to drag out today.
I left mid-morning with Charlie, as we were both heading for the same hostel. Katya and Sally stayed later as they were intending to wild camp outside Fort William and didn't want to get there too early in the day and just have to sit around all evening. The route climbs steeply out of Kinlochleven, affording glorious views back in the direction you've come from and I felt initially we were making good time. However just after midday the knee strain that had plagued Charlie for the last hour of yesterday's hike, returned, and he was slowed down considerably. The miles seemed to creep by, so you can imagine our disappointment when we came to a information board that stated we were only halfway - when we'd already been going 3 hours! We passed through felled forest areas and then into a replanted section of non-forestry trees. Whilst it is still growing now I'm sure it will be a splendid walking zone in a few more years. Charlie struggled bravely on up the last climb of the day and then it was all downhill on broad forest roads, passing some very impressive logs on the way. My feet began to ache from how long I'd been on them, but it would have been to mean to just leave Charlie behind in order to finish faster. Instead we decided to stop in Glen Nevis, and had a very nice (very late) lunch in the Ben Nevis Inn, seated by the window looking at the cloud shrouded bulk of Ben Nevis, and it's dauntingly steep track. Maybe next time - I only have one day in Fort William, and I intend to rest.
We finally made it in to town and at 5:30 stopping briefly to purchase WHW badges and then pressing on to the official finish of the Way.

Charlie very kindly bought me a drink that night for not leaving him behind - it's nice to have one's good deeds appreciated.

The next morning we met up again with Katya and Sally and one by one have gone our separate ways - til next time trail-friends.

Inveroran to Kinlochleven

Without a doubt the most incredible day. I had thought the views over Loch Tulla were good, but this day outstripped that without a doubt.

It rained heavily overnight, and I woke to find that my tent was now sitting in running water. Blessings be upon my beautiful tent, the only strike through was onto the bottom of my mat, so my sleeping bag and clothes were all dry. I changed and packed as well as I could in the cramped tent interior, before hurriedly packing down the sopping tent. To my disgust the inside of the tent fly was coated in dead and dying midges, stuck to the wet fabric. Miraculously I was first packed up, and fidgeted as the midges began to swarm while Katya and Charlie readied. The track is an old military road, and steadily climbed up and around the side of the hills, and then down to the road in the next valley. The rain became increasingly heavy towards lunch, whipping into our faces and sneaking down jacket collars and sleeves. We arrived at Kingshouse having made good time, and skulked into the foyer of this sophisticated hotel feeling out of place. The waistcoat-ed staff seemed unfazed by our bedraggled appearance however, and smoothly took our orders. The floor to ceiling windows offered splendid views of the surrounding mountains, which have now becoming truly impressive, smooth sided lower slopes and scarred peaks. Opposite the Glencoe ski field was a torrent of streams down a steep slope, and two red deer grazed just over the pond. The area felt a lot like the mountains around the Routeburn in New Zealand, although I feel our mountains are more jaggedly cragged compared to these. We all thoroughly enjoyed our lunch, and I can highly recommend the Kingshouse hotel for food and service.
We reluctantly departed hours later, into a brief break in the rain, and were pleasantly surprised to meet Sally, just ahead of us, having walked all the way from Bridge of Orchy that morning. Now with the Rochoish bothy crew back together we headed for the "Devil's staircase" a series of steep switchbacks rising 300m. The weather gave us a truly atmospheric experience, wind strong enough to lean into and sharply lashing rain, but the clouds remained high enough to leave us views back down the valley and then ahead from the saddle. Katya was against the odds walking in her sandals, which made for difficult footing on the larger stones of the path. This meant I stopped occasionally to wait for the others and consequently didn't even get out of breath on this notorious section of track. I'm possibly a little smug about that.
At the top we shared a round of Katya's slivovice to celebrate the milestone, certainly it warmed the throat against the freezing conditions.
I felt like it should all be downhill from there, but as with any trail it rose and fell along the mountainsides before finally descending into Kinlochleven.
That evening I discovered my rice risotto sachet would take 20 minutes to cook - far too long for me to want to do on my gas stove and in the presence of midges, so I prepared myself for a meal of plain pasta again. However I also had a sachet of mushroom cup-a-soup in my bag, and in a stroke of culinary inspiration stirred this into the partially drained pasta, with a generous handful of smoked cheddar cheese - the result was far better than expected and I will likely make it a hiking staple!
This was our last night on the trail, so Charlie, Katya, Sally, and I all limped out for a drink in the nearest pub - once again proving that no matter how beautiful the scenery, it is the people you meet along the way that truly make a journey incredible.

Crianlarich to Inveroran

3 days to catch up on, what a slacker! 😩

I took a slow start out of Crianlarich, partly because I'd left my fancy socks somewhere and couldn't find them! I only reached Charlie and Katya's campsite by 10 so naturally they were long gone.
The trail from here is generally well formed gravel track, often wide enough for vehicles, and wound through spruce and pine forest aand farmland. I reached Tyndrum around midday, thinking I would stop here for lunch as it is well known as a WHW pitstop. Unfortunately as it was Sunday the small town was full of tourists and day walkers. The little cafe was packed and the parking lot of  The Green Welly Stop was bustling. I'll admit the though of so many people made me cringe - I don't really like crowds at the best of times, and after the comfortable isolation of the trail it was even more unappealing. Instead I popped into the mini-mart and sat in a covered alcove outside the store as rain began to mist down. En route to Bridge of Orchy I met up with Katya and we walked together for a while, alongside the river, with the Highlands growing ever more impressive on our right. I remember looking up a valley and thinking it would be nice just to head off trail into the mountains and set up a secret camp away from all the roads and tracks and pylons. I was wearing socks and sandals to give my feet a rest, and though it wasn't raining heavily the track was increasingly interspersed with puddles, and eventually I gave up keeping my feet dry and just squelched straight through the muddy water. I left Katya taking a break and headed on at pace to Bridge of Orchy, arriving just in time to catch up to Charlie leaving the pub! He had left very early that morning, breaking camp quickly without having breakfast, as the midges were lying in wait as soon as he opened his tent. We arranged to meet up again at Inveroran and split again, so that I could take a turn resting in the pub. In the bathroom I peeled my soaking socks off my feet, along with the various dressings that I apply each morning. Checking I was unobserved I then quickly rinsed off the worst of the mud in the hotel's pristine white hand basin, feeling uncouth as I did so.
Katya caught up with me as I rested, and we both headed out together, me now braving my shoes again, and Katya wearing a thin pair of sandals as her boots are hurting her achilles (it's not just me that has this problem!) Coming over the hill to Inveroran we took the extra 10 metres to climb to the Cairns and suddenly the valley opened up below us. Loch Tulla was flat calm, reflecting the hills and trees that lined its shores, and behind us the mountains that had flanked our journey rose into the clouds. In the distance the forest exhaled its rising plumes of misty breath. It was truly spectacular.
Making our way down the hill we stopped in at the Inveroran Hotel long enough to charge my phone and enjoy a whiskey, and decided as a group to get a few more kilometres under foot before setting up camp. We found a spot complete with charred logs indicating previous use as a campsite, and as we set up our tents the midges descended. This was my first proper midge-y experience, as I had only encountered a few so far. Now they landed on my bare legs in a black layer and clustered unpleasantly around my face. I escaped into my tent as quickly as possible - changing into trousers and wrapping my sarong around my face before venturing out long enough to boil water for dinner. Katya and Charlie were similarly acccessorised, with their multi-use head scarves pulled up over their faces and hats pulled down low. They had got a small smoky fire burning while I changed, which helped keep the midges away, but it proved difficult to keep going and I simply retreated back into my tent with my food, like the coward I am.

Rowardennan to Crianlarich

Being back on a major walking trail means I have been meeting other walkers along the way again, some of whom are making similar schedules and some who we've separated from.

Last night was a great group - Charlie from Liverpool, Sally from Toronto but working in Arras, France, and Katya from Czech Republic - all walking the WHW. We were then also joined by local Richard, his daughter Isla, and dog Kilda! Richard is a member of the Mountain Bothies Association, the network of volunteers who built and maintain the 100+ free bothies and huts throughout Scotland and to a lesser extent England and Wales. Richard comes into the hut once a month to help maintain it and clean up any rubbish left behind. This was a real bonus for us as he quickly got into the job of fetching new wood for the fire, which Katya and Charlie sawed up - teamwork makes the dream work! He also gave us a lot of useful advice for along the way, gave me a cuppa this morning, and checked repeatedly if we needed any extra food or supplies.

Today's hike was "only" 25km but somehow became one of my hardest. I have since been reliably informed that many people find it a difficult day. After Inversnaid hotel the way continues along the Loch edge, but the path becomes rockier, and winding, with many steep scrambles and difficult footing. Steady rain overnight and throughout the morning made for a more wild beauty than the day before, and had all the waterfalls in full flow. This also meant that all the streams to be forded were also in full flow so footwear rapidly became soaked through, and stayed that way all day. These factors combined to make for the slowest 15km I've done on this entire trip.

I stopped for lunch later than planned at the Drovers Inn, known for its interesting decor (loads of real taxidermied animals in the foyer), and was soon joined by Charlie. Katya and Sally were behind us, and Sally was planning to stop at the campsite anyway. Lunch was good standard pub fare, and the staff were nice, but I don't know if I would label it "Scotland's best pub".

The way after that was much simpler, Charlie and I caught up to Katya who had pressed on, and we covered the final 11km at an okay pace. My feet however have developed blisters from yesterday's exuberance, that have only been exacerbated by the soaking today. Tonight I am.in a hostel, but up much later than I intended as I try to get all my laundry done. Charlie and Katya are wild camping near the turnoff to Crianlarich so I will hopefully find them again tomorrow!

Drymen to Rowardennan

What a day!

I finally got to feel that enthusiasm for my challenge again today, after the last few have seemed to drag and battle.
It was partly helped by popping a diclofenac first thing, which helped enormously with the deep ache in my left foot, however another big help was the beautiful and varied scenery, and more interesting walking tracks.
Leaving Drymen you head through a forest and then hike up, just on the northern side of conic hill summit. This affords stunning views up Loch Lomond, and is the first full sight of the iconic lake and its islands. Though it rained early in the morning the day cleared and maintained sunny right through until late evening.
Once again back on a major trail means a lot more people, and significantly more than were on the Pennine Way. Last night at the campsite I was informed about a bothy further than Rowardennan, so pushed on to that tonight. As I write this I am sitting on a log by the open fire while the rain patters outside.
The trail after conic hill dropped down to Balmaha, where I had the best flat white that I've had in weeks. I also managed to send off a job application and do some online maintenance. The track winds along the edge of the Loch, with beautiful beaches changing from pink sand, to gravel, or rocks. I was so chipper after my lunch break that I strode along sing "You'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road, and I'll be in Scotland afore ye! But me and my true love will never meet again, on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond" much to the amusement and/or enjoyment of other walkers. It was a real joy to feel the return my true enjoyment of the activity, with bursts of downhill jogs, and satisfyingly puffing up steep climbs.
After a rest at Rowardennan I did push on to the bothy, arriving warm enough to brave a quick dunk in Loch Lomond, which was VERY brisk, but well worth it

Loch Lomond

Balmaha Bay

Look how happy I am!

Torrance to Drymen

I woke up bright and early this morning, too early after a restless sleep, but after finishing my current book just decided to get going. My decision to rise was helped along by sheep unexpectedly trotting past my tent. This meant I reached Milngavie at 8am, plenty of time to have a leisurely coffee and top up my supplies before officially starting the West Highland Way.
This first part is similar to much of the other walking I've been doing, on gravel tracks, but the land has started to rise, and at the foot of one hill I stopped by a whisky distillery to learn a thing or two.
Glengoyne makes single malt whiskies, in relatively small quantities, their youngest whisky is aged 12 years in the barrel. They are also the only whisky producer to distill in the Highlands, and mature in the Lowlands, as their facility straddles the border of these regions.
Some quick facts:
- Whisky is made from only 3 ingredients. Malted barley wheat, water, and yeast.
- To be called "whisky" a product must be made in Scotland, matured in oak barrels, and aged at least 3 years
- The malted barley is brought in and separated from any foreign contaminants (sticks, stones etc) by a Porteus mill. This brand of mill is so well built that the company went bust. Glengoyne bought theirs second hand in 1908 and it's still functioning perfectly.
- Sugars are extracted from the ground up barley "grist" by soaking in hot water. First at 60degC and then a second wort at 70degC. A final steeping is done at 90degC but so little sugars result from this that it is reused for the first wash of the next batch.
- The fermentation takes places in huge vats built of Oregon Pine. This wood is chosen as it produces long planks with no knots in, minimising fluid loss
- The fermented product is about 8% and is distilled twice to reach casking strength, water actually has to be added after the second slow distillation to adjust the alcohol content.
- All the colour and almost all the flavour comes from the barrel aging process. Glengoyne uses primarily European Oak barrels that have previously held Spanish sherry. This helps define their specific flavours.

Falkirk to Torrance

Nicest wild camping spot so far - as long as the horses don't try to eat my tent!

Saw the Falkirk Wheel today - pretty cool, would like to see it in action. Also remains of the Antonnine Wall - another Roman wall, built after the Hadrian Wall at the new northern border. Not much to really see at the wall and fort site, like most other Roman forts there is really just like terrain to give an idea of the shapes. What was previously excavated had been reburied to preserve it.